


The Tale of Masumi and Iuzu

by TheDarkFlygon



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, F/F, Fairy Tale Retellings, Pastiche, With A Twist, Zine: Miracle Illusions - A Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26303965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkFlygon/pseuds/TheDarkFlygon
Summary: Masumi, who was born a girl but was raised as a boy, marries Iuzu.
Relationships: Hiiragi Yuzu/Koutsu Masumi
Kudos: 4





	The Tale of Masumi and Iuzu

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this piece last year for the Miracle Illusions Zine, which just so happens to be my first ever zine contribution. The writing style is meant to copy Ovid's, who wrote the version of the Iphis and Ianthe myth I (heavily) used as a reference, so it's weird and oddly posh. You can also enjoy my attempts at Latinizing/Hellenizing names because I'd have otherwise been very mad with myself.  
> Don't hesitate to check out our official MI accounts on Twitter and Tumblr @arcvzine for both sites!

** MASUMIS ET IUZUS FABULA **

_Masumi, puella nata sed sicut viri erecta, Iuzus nubet._

An aged and wise aoid once told me, during a journey throughout the hundred cities of Crete, about the tale of a girl whom everybody thought to have been a boy and whom Venus Acidalia had infatuated with another of her kind. As per the long-lasting tradition of poets telling stories throughout the ages as not to let them die out and get forgotten in the sands of time, I shall myself rely this fable throughout the centuries to come. May Clio, Muse of History, bless this story with eternal remembrance.

The tale goes as such. In the city of Phaistos, near Cnossos, lived a modest man going by the name of Lithos. He was but a humble mortal born to a family of mediocre legacy, nearing poverty. Yet, his means of living did not hinder on his morals and code of conduct, as Lithos was but a model of virtue for all of mankind. He was generous and did not hesitate to give hospitality to the foreign, familiar or unfamiliar, always sharing his part of bread and wine with his guests. He prayed to the gods and goddesses every day, participated in the sacrifices in their names, thanks them for their graces whenever he asked for them.

Lithos had a loving wife by the name of Argurona, who was of a beauty not unlike Venus’s, but whose parents were not any richer than his, as she came from a condition similar to his. She was about to enter motherhood, heavy with child and at the verge of giving birth, when he told her this, voice trembling with dilemmas and the frustration of the poor:

“I make a double wish for you, dear. First, that your delivery be as painless as it can be. Second, that you give me a son. Our fortune has made it so we cannot bear the weight of a daughter, as we cannot afford to raise her. Would fate have decided it – and do I wish Tyche would spare you from this dolour! –, if she gives you a daughter, I instruct you to… with only sorrow and regret… Oh, have mercy on me for this, to make her perish.”

As those words were pronounced, a torrent of tears flowed down the speaker and the listener’s cheeks. Through useless prayers, Argurona tried to convince her husband not to limit his options this strictly, to have some lest would the child turn out to be a girl, to keep his head up. But the never-doubtful Lithos never went back on his decisions, instead pursuing them with determination despite her vain attempts at earning a place in his heart for a potential daughter.

On a night where the burden got nearly unbearable for her, a half-asleep Argurona saw, or believed to have seen, just like a daydream or a hallucination, the warm light of Reis, surrounded by the Muses of the four seasons, whose auras wrapped her in the veils of the aurora borealis. She smiled upon Argurona’s gravid form, braided crimson hair gently waving above her shoulders, the gem bracelets on her right forearm shining in unison. The goddess slowly walked to Argurona, who had abruptly woken up to witness the spectacle, and put a hand on her shoulder as she tells her this:

“Oh Argurona, who is so dear to my heart, put the burden on thy chest away and disobey thy husband’s orders. When Juno will have delivered thou, no matter the sex of thy child, do not hesitate to keep it and hide it away from the prying eye of the people. I am but a helpful deity, and I always give a helping hand to those who beg me for a miracle. Thou will not regret having honoured the goddess before your eyes.”

After hearing these words, the heart of Argurona filled with light and warmth, liberated from what had been heavying it until now. With hands purified by clear water, she prayed with both hands lifted to the sky and a begging voice for the slumber of night. Her pains soon flared in strength as her burden freed itself from her bosom under Juno’s watchful eye. A soul aw the dawn of a new life while the sun of Crete bathed its hundred cities in its benevolent warmth.

Without knowing it, hardworking Lithos was now the father of a little girl; indeed, Argurona did everything in her power to make it a secret. She entrusted the daughter to a nurse while disguising her sex. Her words were believed, and only the nurse was in the know of the child’s true nature. The father gave the gods his thanks and named the baby after his ancestor, Masumi. Argurona liked it, since it fit both sexes and, as such, didn’t have to mistake anyone. Thanks to this honorary device, the lie remained buried under a tight seal.

From the day of the birth, her true identity hidden by fabric, Masumi was raised as a boy, wearing male clothing and wearing a young man’s haircut. She attended reunions with her father, helped around the acre, learned how to fight with other boys from her age group. When she turned thirteen, Lithos found a bride to marry his son to, and what a bride she was: young Masumi, whom was thought to be a boy by everyone in Phaistos and whose androgynous beauty pleased both genders, had her hand promised to the only daughter of Suzos the Cretan, Iuzu. She was by far the prettiest, most graceful virgin of the city, with pink locks flowing down her neck and caressing her shoulders like Dawn with rose fingers and dazzling blue eyes like the early night sky.

They were equal in beauty and equal in age and had learnt under the same pedagogue these elements that both genders learned at the same time in the beginning of their education to become citizens of their city. From there, playful Cupid easily struck them both with his arrows, igniting both naïve souls with a burning passion for each other, a passion that scorched their youthful, smooth skin as it manifested oh so differently in their hearts and souls, how much were their hopes apart!

Iuzu sighed every day as she contemplated the arriving wedding. She could barely wait for the day on which she would finally wear the veil and promise eternal fidelity to the one she thought to be her ideal husband. As she waited for the hymen to finally come to her, for her union to finally embrace her hips and bring them closer to her promised, she burnt and itched all over, eyes lost as she contemplated the sea from her window, lost in her thoughts when reading on the legendary metamorphoses of her people. Every day and night, she thanked Juno for having brought such happiness into her life, prayed Venus for her feelings to remain chaste and never succumb to lustful desires.

But Masumi loved without hope, without ever thinking bliss was going to bless her someday. Her desperation continued to fuel her flame of passion even further as she got engulfed by smoke-like despair, because she was a virgin burning for another virgin. She could barely keep her tears inside, showing a vulnerability she had been taught not to display in public, instead finding shelter in the temple of Reis, hands over the temple as she cuts her hair with a sharp blade, bent on keeping her secret to herself, her hand hesitating on the length. And desperate was the young girl as she begged the goddess for things to change, for her passion to become friendship, to fall in love with a man at last so she could break away from the secret at last:

“What am I waiting for, why am I waiting? Why am I feeling this strange love like no one seems to have seen or felt before? Why did Venus have to make me fall in love with another of my kind? If the gods wished to have spared me, they would have made me perish; because a heifer does not go after another heifer, because the cow follows after the bull, and this is how birds mate and not anyway else. Never has a female burnt for another female amongst the realm of animated beings. I wish to be something other than this chimera of feelings: I am thought to be a boy, but I have always been a girl in my heart and mind, and wish to live this way in the eyes of everyone I hold dear. Can someone even save me from my desires before the fateful day of this counterfeit wedding come? A virgin cannot marry another virgin, as Juno would have forsaken this unnatural union.”

In a moment where her heart almost stopped beating, she rose back to her feet and tied her hands together, the words continuing to pour from her mouth:

“Ah, Masumi, brace yourself with courage again and be true to yourself, put a lid on this flame of yours and move on; do not lie to yourself and keep your dreams to what is possible to accomplish. Resolve yourself to what a woman is allowed to feel, to burn for without it ending poorly. Hope is what gives birth to love and what nourishes it, and it is not the severity of your father, the gentleness of your mother, the wise words of your teacher or the sharpness of your sword skills that will keep these feelings from singing your soul. Your kisses are not kept away from who you love, as Iuzu does not refuse your advances and her heart beats for yours; and yet you cannot possess her, cannot unite with her, as you cannot mate with someone of your kind. Ah, miserable Iuzu, miserable me, our desires are going against nature, and I am the only one who knows it!”

She clutched the bracelet her fiancée had given her as a promise of their union, a sob almost escaping her lips while her thoughts kept flowing in the temple’s walls.

“All I wish to do is fulfil Iuzu’s wish, which is mine and my family’s, but we have a wall impossible to face. I know the gods and goddesses have done all they can to save us from this imminent catastrophe, as nature is stronger than all of us. The wedding is dangerously soon, sneaking behind us at the speed of zephyrs, Iuzu will soon be mine and I will soon be hers; yet this cannot be happening! We will be always thirsty despite drowning in eternal waters! Oh Juno, oh Hymenia, oh goddesses of weddings and unions, you who are presiding to this unnatural mating, please give these two wives an end that doesn’t translate in our demise!”

Meanwhile, the other girl’s flame burnt in less arduous manners, yet prayed for Juno to come to her aid as soon as possible. In her soul were engraved pictures of her beloved, of piercing eyes, of shining mane black as an onyx always tied with quartz-coloured ribbons as to let a slender face free from the hair surrounding it whenever it moved during sparing sessions, of a delicate yet strong demeanour, of a dream-like voice speaking in elegant words. Iuzu could not wait anymore, her entire body convulsing, skin shivering with desire for her promised, the arrow firmly planted in her bosom setting fire to her chest whenever her chaste thoughts almost became too sensual for her pure heart to handle; and yet the day she was desperately trying to reach with her young arms kept walking backwards and never quite reached her embrace.

Iuzu’s arms could not get to her dearest wish because Argurona kept delaying the unavoidable. She knew this wedding cannot happen as it was, since it was two wives and nobody to guarantee their future, and she got desperate with her excuses. The poor woman was running out of excuses to delay it even further, Suzo getting impatient to see his daughter happy married, the dowry already prepared and lying under Argurona’s silver eyes. This impatience was shared by Lithos, whose hands twitched whenever his wife tried to propose a new date for the wedding, always later, always another day. But the marriage would be there soon, it was on the next day, and the mother had no reason to push it further to the watchful eyes of Phaistos!

Backed into a corner, Argurona went into Reis’s temple and untied the cloth ribbons wrapped around her forehead and her daughter’s and, with her hair now free and flowing down her shoulders, kneeled before the altar and kissed it, pouring all she had into a tearful prayer of last resort:

“Reis,” she screamed in despair, “oh goddess of life and creation, whose bracelets shine with the spark of the four seasons, please give us our aid and dissipate our misery! You whom I have seen telling me not to give up on my child so long ago, who appeared before my bed and advised me, please come to my daughter’s help! If she sees the light of day in this condition, she will be rejected by all. Please, Reis, bless us again with your kindness and grace…!”

Soon after these words were said, a bright light shone upon the two of them. Argurona saw Reis move the ribbons tied to her alter, her moon on her forehead shining like a star in the night sky, her bracelets shining like gemstones and her Muses surrounding the mother and daughter. The flash faded away mere moments later but, with a heart given peace, Argurona rose to her feet and exited the temple, Masumi following with heavier footsteps. She did not believe any miracle had happened in front of the altar.

As per the customs wanted, they gave their offerings in front of Juno’s altar before Masumi made her way to her waiting bride, who had her hands crossed and a tearful father near her. Iuzu wore the veil like no one has ever had in Masumi’s life: her heart was set ablaze, fire burning the charred organ. Despite every fibre of her being yearning for this girl, Iuzu could never be hers, as she could not belong to another woman, and she herself could not be married to another of her kind. Juno would soon strike them with her merciless curses if they did. Yet, knowing this and being aware of the punishment made the girl shiver in excitement, thrilled by a sense of the forbidden that felt so right and so wrong at the same time, and her footsteps did not back down nor threatened to do so.

If she was doomed to eternal suffering because she took another girl’s hand and promised her to spend all of their lives together, then she accepted being condemned for her faults. There was nothing she felt like asking forgiveness for in the eyes of the gods.

Still, Masumi was remorseful. She had tricked Iuzu and the latter’s father into marrying her to another bride. This was not right, as it was dragging someone down with her to Tartarus; yet her desperate prayers were mere background echoes in the void as she picked the hands of her promised and gazed into her eyes, breath coming to a halt in astonishment shortly thereafter. The world stopped spinning for a moment, clouds locking in the sky, wind ceasing to blow through the trees and the waves of the sea freezing. To her upmost surprise, lay in Iuzu’s eyes a shimmer of camaraderie. Masumi did not stare at a victim, but at an accomplice.

“I have but known the truth all along,” Iuzu told her in a whisper as she lifted the veil in front of her face, revealing a sheepish smile. “Please forgive me for keeping this a secret, my beloved.”

The world’s rhythm resumed as the ceremony continued, Juno blessing the union with her warm light. The secret was silently lifted by the tacit hand of Reis as the promise became two-sided, the lie unburied with no fanfare. Two brides stood before the altar, embracing each other as the two families shook hands and exchanged words about the newfound marital alliance. The newlyweds engraved in the stone of Reis’s temple their secret in the form of a single verse, hands tied together and eyes drowning in the other’s glaze: “A virgin, she swore; a bride, she honoured her promise”.

The legend went on to say that Masumi and Iuzu lived happily thereafter, blessed by Reis until their demise in each other’s arms. They received the gift of light from the goddess in the form of twin girls bearing both of their mothers’ features, who then went on to become a warrior and a poetess, protected by the Muses of the four seasons. They departed from the Earth on the same day, their fingers still intertwined after more than half a century of shared bliss. Reis, saddened by their love having to stop after their human skin had perished, gave them the form of two stars shining right next to each other like gemstones on a priestess’s veil…


End file.
